Send Me Your Love
by Bunny Chaps
Summary: "I just wish you could understand, I don't wish to share my pains with a broken heart. I love you for your flaws, your imperfections, the things that make you uniquely you. Unlike other people, you're human. You have the ability to truly be able to love." [Three-Shot] [SasuxSaku]
1. Human

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything that has to do with the franchise. The only thing I do however own, is this plot.

Yes, I know I should be working on my other pieces. Sometimes the writing bug bites you in the wrong places and ideas tend to come to mind and it's a horrible thing. This has been nagging at me for a couple of days now to be written.

So I present to you this three-shot. Trust me when I say everything will be well in the end.

Dedicated to a certain someone, with all of my love.

* * *

" _They say pain is an illusion/This is just a bruise/And you are just confused/But I am only human"_ – "Human" by Krewella

Sakura POV

I have never felt as though I've belonged.

I've always been "too weird" or "too loud" or a "know it all". Nothing I seemed to do ever seemed good enough for anyone. Not my parents, my friends, my teachers.

Not anyone.

Growing up, I was always told that I was too smart for my age, and that my heart was way too big for someone of my age as well. My parents would always say that I cared too much – that I wore my heart on my sleeve and always tried to see the good in everyone, no matter what horrible things they had done to themselves, someone else, or even myself. So, I guess that even as a small child there had always been a raging battle between my head and my heart.

There I was, that awkward little girl with bright green eyes and obnoxious pink hair that stood out from afar, always having her nose buried in some type of book. Half the time it was a random book I had picked up, and the other half I have been told that I was studying for things that I would be learning years down the line. I had decided at a young age that what I lacked in looks, I would make up in intelligence, because I would rather be good for something than good for nothing. If I could be good at making a strategy, evasion, or even be that wild card that no one expected that watch from the shadows, I wanted to be useful instead of just someone who got in the way. As I grew older this of course changed once I realized there was that thing called 'boys'. Aka, that boy named Sasuke Uchiha. My pre-teen years were spent trying to impress him in whichever ways possible, and I became a vain individual – something in which I am not proud of.

Where had that motivated girl gone? The girl who didn't need a man? The girl who loved to learn and loved being independent?

Oh yeah, she was with every other girl who did this to herself.

She got pushed to the side and locked in a room with the others, because that side of her grew insecure that she would never amount to anything with anyone because she was afraid of being labeled a nerd.

Becoming part of a group of people helped me grow as a person. Working together in an actual team helped me realize my true strengths and weaknesses, and help me begin to improve myself. Once I realized that not everything was about myself or about one other person in particular, I began to realize that everything that I was doing was for the greater good of those around me. I realized that I wanted to help others. I wanted to be the person that someone wouldn't expect to make their day better.

I had always had a knack for chakra control. I don't know why, it was just something that I had always been good at. After Sasuke betrayed the village and Naruto went off to train, I begged Lady Tsunade to take me as her disciple. I wanted to become stronger. I wanted to do something with myself. I wanted to distract myself from the pain of losing the one person who would make my heart beat so much faster, and bring a blush to my cheeks.

I didn't need him anymore.

I didn't need to seek his approval anymore.

I realized I only needed myself.

I no longer wanted him, or Naruto to feel as though they had to protect me. To carry me in battle. No, I decided that I wanted to fight alongside them. I wanted to be treated as an equal, and not be their extra baggage.

Which brings me to where I am today.

Another day, another life or so saved.

Time becomes irrelevant once you are in that operating room I've learned. The stress of keeping that person alive destroys your concept of time. I never know how long I am in there until I finally look up at a clock once I get out. Another seven hour surgery, and yet it only feels as though I was in there for a matter of minutes. Even though the war has been long over, some have suffer long term effects, and the next thing I know I find them on my table with their heart barely beating.

"Haruno-sama," I heard one of my assistants say. I think her name is Ayame. "Why don't you head home and get some sleep? I think the hospital will be alright without you for a few hours."

I scoffed. "I'll sleep when I'm dead."

"Why don't you come back tomorrow evening, Haruno-sama?" Ayame asked, her gaze trailing down towards the floor. "Forgive me for my rashness. But you have been here for three days straight, senpai. Myself and the others have grown concerned about your health. We don't want the stress of the hospital to make you sick, or completely tear you apart. I know firsthand that it gets to be a lot to constantly be here with everything that goes on. I also know that as head of this hospital you already have the weight of the world on your shoulders with everyone who comes in and out of these doors. I know that you feel responsible for everyone. But I also know that you have brought in those who you consider to be the best. Trust us, senpai."

I raised an eyebrow. "You are correct that I have only brought in the best. I also admire your bluntness, Ayame-chan."

"No one understands the patients like you do, Haruno-sama!" she smiled, even though I could tell she was lost in the vortex of her own thoughts again.

"What are you not telling me?" I asked a little too curtly, already guessing what my staff had been up to.

The girl shifted her feet. "Forgive me, but we have already spoken to Lady Tsunade, who has asked us to not only give this to you, but to ask you to please keep from destroying the village because Lord Sixth already has enough on his plate."

Opening the piece of paper, my jaw dropped. "TWO WEEKS FORCED TIME OFF!?"

Ayame took off running. "Forgive me! It was all Jin's idea!"

Rest in peace Jin, because once I'm back you're most likely going to find yourself fired.

I made my way over to my office, and took off my lab coat, hanging it up on the rack. Wait, have I really not been home in three days? I looked down at what I was wearing, noticing I was still wearing my blue shirt with my black dress pants. I guess not.

Like I said, ones concept of time is completely destroyed once you enter an operating room.

Walking out of the hospital, my mind began to wander to a case I had earlier on, of a teenage girl and her scruffy looking boyfriend. She had a baby on the way and had been thrown out of her home by her parents, and moved in with the boy and his family. Now, I knew the boys parents from previous experiences with them coming in and out to get routine exams done, and I knew that sometimes things would get a bit rough for them. Because of my prior history, I would occasionally give them some medication on the house out of the goodness of my heart, which I knew if Lady Tsunade found out she'd have my head for.

But as I've told you before, I do what I do for the greater good of those around me.

How could I let this girl suffer? That family could barely afford to give themselves three square meals a day, and now with an extra going to be two mouths to feed, I couldn't let that happen. I held the girl back in the examination room as the boy walked out to fill out some paperwork and file her next appointment, and I slipped her some vitamins and medication that I knew she was going to be needing. How they were going to raise this child, I didn't know. But if I could help her and her child's health, so be it.

I looked up at the night sky as I rounded the corner, taking notice of the stars in what felt to be ages. Why hadn't I noticed the vastness of them before? Why hadn't I taken the time to enjoy the simplistic things that nature has given me?

And then the wind blew past me, and it was almost as though it had whispered those words into my ear that I had wished I had forgotten.

" _I just wish you could understand, I don't wish to share my pains with a broken heart. I love you for your flaws, your imperfections, the things that make you uniquely you. Unlike other people, you're human. You have the ability to truly be able to love."_

Dammit Sasuke.

How I hate that all these years later you still have the ability to make me cry like a child.

"Hey! Hey Forehead! Girl, what's going on? What are you doing standing around aimlessly at this time of night?" I heard the shrill of my best friend calling while wrapping her arms around my waist, pulling me out of my zoned out state.

"Huh? Oh, Ino."

"Sakura, what's going on?"

I closed my eyes in an attempt to stop the tears from continuing to fall and shook my head. "It's nothing. It's really nothing. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about me. I'm fine."

"Sakura, you think I don't know you as well as you think I do. You have been drowning yourself in work because you don't want to deal with whatever is going on. So, why don't you talk to me?"

" ' _I just wish you could understand, I don't wish to share my pains with a broken heart. I love you for your flaws, your imperfections, the things that make you uniquely you. Unlike other people, you're human. You have the ability to truly be able to love.'_ I just don't know what to do, Ino. Those words are just haunting me."

Ino slipped her hand into mine, and the next thing I knew I saw myself standing outside of her families flower shop, her having led me there.

"Are you going to come in Forehead, or not?"

"Are you going to give me much of a choice? Hey! Get off of me!" I yelped as Ino attempted to fling me over her shoulder and drag me into her house.

"Don't ask questions you already know the answers to!" she answered as she tackled me onto her kitchen floor and put her hand over my mouth. Kicking her door closed she turned stared at me with her baby blue eyes. "Now, you are going to tell me what that bastard did, before I go and kill him myself."

I raised an eyebrow and motioned with my eyes towards her hand, which she then proceeded to take away from my mouth. "Are you going to release me now?"

"Are you going to talk to me?"

"Fine."

Ino climbed off of me and did a fist pump of victory before we both sat down at her kitchen table.

"You sure don't allow me to keep much of a low profile, do you Ino? Every time I want some peace and quiet to myself or just want to wander about you always tend to show up and drag me off. What the fuck! Why is that!"

"There we go. There's the spit-fire Sakura that you are." Ino said in a sing-song voice. "I knew getting you riled up enough would get you to talk."

I sighed and smashed my head down on the table.

"I'm sorry Sakura. You know that I tend to suck at things like this. You've always been the one who can crack the jokes or do something weird and get people to talk. But you haven't been yourself, and I've been worried."

"You know I hate it when you cause a public scene." I mumbled.

"And if I'm not mistaken you are the famous apprentice of Lady Tsunade, part of the team led by the student of the fourth Hokage, Kakashi, who has many achievements and notabilities under his belt, who has also somehow managed to become our sixth Hokage. You are a public scene once you walk outside of our house just for those two things alone. You are one of the main reasons we won the war. You started a hospital. You have somehow managed to keep Sasuke home…"

"Don't mention him."

Ino's baby blue eyes widened and a smirk appeared on her face. "I see we have finally acknowledged the source of this problem."

My breath hitched as I gripped my hands together.

"Ah yes, the one and only Sasuke Uchiha." She continued, knowing she was going to get to me eventually. "Your teammate, yes? I remember him, with those dark eyes of his and his jet black hair. Kami Sakura, he's so gorgeous I'm surprised –"

"Ino! Stop!" I yelled as I started sobbing again.

She rested her hand on my shoulder. "What happened?"

"He doesn't 'want to share his pains with a broken heart'. That's what happened. He snapped out of nowhere. One minute I thought everything was okay. Well, as okay as things can get for Sasuke in his life with everything that he does. The next minute I come home to find him sitting at the table looking like his life just came to a drastic end again. Now I know not to pry and I try not to pry when it comes to him because I know how he gets and then out of nowhere he just leaves me. No explanation. No nothing. I get a whole 'it's not you it's me' speech while I'm sobbing hysterically. What the fuck is that even supposed to mean Ino?"

"He knows he's hurt you once before, Sakura."

"That's in the past! I would have thought that we all would have moved on from that by now! The old Sasuke is dead! That Sasuke is dead! That evil, evil, man is gone!"

Ino bowed her head almost in an apologetic manner. "I know that."

"Do you remember? Do you remember when I asked Naruto to bring him back? ' _Please bring him home Naruto. Bring him back, please!'_ Everyone wanted him home. Everyone knew he was hurting. Everyone knew what he had gone through. It wasn't him. That person wasn't Sasuke. He would have never just betrayed everyone like that. We all knew what had happened."

"He left you knocked out on a bench, Sakura."

"At least I tried! I tried to stop him!" I screamed.

"I know that. We all know that," Ino said calmly. "None of that was your fault. It wasn't your fault that he left. He made that decision on his own." I could tell she was starting to regret what she did when she found me.

I could feel my heart start racing and I could have sworn I felt the color drain from my body. I took my head into my hands as I felt everything start to spin into darkness.

"Sakura! Sakura, come back to me. Come back." I heard Ino call.

 _Shake._

 _Shake._

 _Shake._

"What? What happened?"

"You need to stop letting your past dictate who you've become. You are better than that Forehead."

I took a deep breath, trying to compose myself.

"And then you took him back."

"I did."

"Why?"

"Because I love him, Ino. I love a man who has not only hurt me on multiple occasions, but has tried to kill me on multiple occasions as well."

"How can you still love him?"

I paused. "Because I know that's not who he is."

I closed my eyes only to see the flashbacks of the war, of those years right after Naruto returned from his training. The deafening screams of the villagers when they realized what was happening, pleading for their lives. The screams on the battlefield of those whose lives had been taken, and those who had lost the ones they loved. The visions of travelling to the different villages, trying to save the lives that had almost been taken, the people who had been seriously injured because of his actions.

I could still see and hear everything, down to his terrifying laughter of when he would do all of these horrible things.

I could still hear Naruto, screaming in pain, begging Sasuke to stop this madness and to just come home. That he was his friend, and that he never gave up on him.

I could still hear Kakashi, trying to come up with a plan that would help end the madness but keep Sasuke alive and try to get him pardoned for everything that he had done.

I could still see TenTen, crying over Neji's body after I wasn't able to save him.

I could still see myself, shaking in fear as he approached me. I had accepted death as a friend at that point, but I knew he was going to make me suffer, or torture me enough and keep me alive to live with it. Those eyes would haunt me for as long as I live.

"If that's not who he is, then why are you back to how you were when he left you the first time?" Ino asked quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"You don't remember, do you?"

"Remember what, Ino?"

"How depressed you were. How you wouldn't leave your room for days. You shut everyone out. You wouldn't eat. You wouldn't talk. I came over every day to try to get you to smile. I never left your side, Sakura. When you finally came to, you spent every last second in that hospital trying to learn how to be a medic. You became engrossed in your work. I took it as you were distracting yourself at first, and then as you moving on. But I have come to realize that it was something you did to numb the pain. And you're doing it again."

"What do you mean, I am doing it again. Doing what again?"

"You are diving into the hospital again. Over the past few years, I have noticed that it has become almost of a safe haven for you. When something goes wrong, you hole yourself up there. Even your staff have noticed your patterns when it comes to that. Your grandmother died, you were in that hospital working your ass off. All of your shitty relationships, you were right back in that hospital. Sasuke hurts you? Well, I commend you for going out on that one date. You even let the guy hold your hand and kiss you. And then you came home and told me how you felt horrible about even letting that happen because of your feelings towards Sasuke. You turned down getting laid because of your conflicting feelings towards Sasuke."

I looked up at Ino, not wanting to acknowledge the fact that she was right.

"Forehead, I'm not saying this to be mean, but do you honestly believe that Sasuke even loves you at this point, and he's just not doing what he's doing for his own sick thrill of jerking you around and messing with your head?"

I bit my lip. "Sai had mentioned to me that maybe I'm just too broken and fucked up for Sasuke to love. That I've had too much damage done to me by Hojo and that it's just something Sasuke can't handle. He can't handle being with someone that's not the ideal woman. Someone who's been through what I have. He told me that Sasuke has his own things going on, and that he doesn't need someone like me. He doesn't need someone who jumps at the slightest creek around the corner. Someone who is afraid to go out sometimes because she's afraid of who she is going to run into. Someone who pushes people away because of her own fears and insecurities. Maybe Sai is right. Maybe Sasuke can't love someone like me. I'm not good enough for him. "

"Fuck Hojo!" Ino yelled. "That bastard probably hurt you more emotionally than Sasuke ever has, and that says a lot right there. They are two separate people, and if Sasuke had a brain in that head of his he would know not to judge you based off of what that bastard did. If Sasuke can't handle it, then he should have never asked you about it. He should have stopped you from opening up to him."

"I told him because I felt he deserved to know. He deserved to know why I freak out over certain things. Why I act the way I do sometimes. Why I tried pushing him away. I was scared to allow myself to fall in love with someone again."

"And like Sasuke told you. You're human. You have the ability to love. You have the ability to show love, Sakura. Not many people can do that. Not many people can open their heart up like you do. Face it, Sasuke was a complete stranger to you after all was said and done. Ugh, if only I could have confronted him when I had the chance. Then maybe this wouldn't have happened. Maybe...no…no…I've had plenty of opportunity to do it Sakura. Plenty. Want to know why I never did? Why I never said anything to him? Because you are my best friend, and as your best friend even if I don't agree with your decisions, I respect you enough to not butt in. I respect you enough to allow you to make your own decisions. I will in fact voice my disapproval to you if I disagree, which I have done so in the past. You think no one likes you, but the reality is that everyone loves you."

"Then why is it that even after all of those years training with Lady Tsunade, I still feel like that stupid, pathetic, crybaby weakling that I was when I was first placed on team seven with the boys?"

"Because you allow yourself to feel that way. No one thinks that of you, but you."

"Why is it that I feel that everyone hates me?"

"Because you're human, and you have insecurities just like everyone else." Ino said with a smile. "You worry too much about others, and not about yourself. You need to start worrying about yourself, Sakura."

I finally looked up at Ino, who had rested her hand on top of mine.

"Finally, I get to see those green eyes of yours actually looking at me. For a moment I thought..." she trailed off, sounding worried. "I'm sorry, Sakura. It's just…I…I've been concerned. We all have. It takes all of the will power and composure that I have not to march into that hospital, rip you out, and force you to talk to me and just unload everything that's weighing on your mind on me. Since I can't get into that head of yours anyway," she laughed. "How bad did he hurt you this time?"

I ran my hands through my hair, noticing that I needed to take a long overdue shower. "Well I guess I haven't been home in three days and I don't remember life outside of the operating room. So…" I shrugged.

"When was the last time you ate something?"

I shrugged again.

"Are you hungry? Never mind, I shouldn't even be asking you that. What do you want to eat or am I just going to have to force it down your throat?"

I smiled. Ino has always been the better cook out of the two of us, and every time I would come to her house she was always trying to feed me something. "I'm really not all that hungry, but thank you anyway."

"I will not tolerate this. The way you always have to be so selfless. Be selfish for once! Tell me to cook you something ridiculous! Tell Sasuke how much you love him and how much it fucking sucks when he takes things out on you. Tell that idiot to talk to you! Tell him what you want from him! Tell him that you are sick of him making you cry all the time! Tell him that you love him so much that you hurt. Be selfish! Be selfish with me! Be selfish with him! Fuck! Think about you for once! Not everyone expects the world from you Sakura. I've already told you. Everyone has already told you. No one is blaming you for anything that has happened to you. It's not your fault. Nothing is your fault."

And there I was, sobbing again like a moron. "I love him Ino. I want him to know how much I love him. I want him to know that I have never felt like this towards anyone before. I have been with other guys, but I can't understand why my heart is drawn to him the way it is. I can't understand why I love him the way I do. I want him to know that when we talk, even if it's just me talking and him pretending to listen, that means more to me than he realizes. I want him to know that I would be more than willing to not have sex with him until he's completely ready if that's something that he wants. I want him to know that I'm afraid that he's going to try to cage me like someone had done to me before, and I want him to allow me to be a free spirit, but reel me in when I've gone too far up into the clouds. I want him to know that I really don't want much from him except someone to talk to and someone to hold when I'm feeling sad or stressed out. I want him to know how sorry I am that Hojo damaged me as much as he has and that's the person that I am, and how I'm still trying to find myself. I want him to know that he's made me happy. I want him to know how hard it was for me to tell him that I loved him back, because I was afraid of feeling those feelings again towards someone, and that when I did say it back, I truly meant it. And I want him to know how hard it is for me to tell him any of that."

It felt as though we were sitting there for hours with me being in Ino's arms and her trying to soothe me. I don't know when I fell asleep, but I assumed that I cried myself to sleep, because when I opened my eyes I was laying in Ino's bed with my body facing towards her window, which I noticed had a beautiful view of the village.

Ino walked into the room and sat up. She opened her mouth to talk but I cut her off.

"Thank you."

Ino smiled. "You're welcome."

"I'm sorry I didn't come find you sooner."

"Don't be. I know you'll talk to me when you're ready. But I also know you'll bottle it up until I force it out of you. And I'm proud of you, you finally allowed yourself to be a little bit selfish."

"Can I have some strawberry banana pancakes?"

"They're already on the stove."

Now it was my turn to smile. "I should have figured as much."

"You are going to speak to Sasuke today."

My mouth dropped as my smile quickly faded. "I can do that later," I quickly said as I began to look for something to wear.

"I put clothes for you on the chair in the corner," she motioned with her head as I noticed a pair of her civilian clothes laid out. "And you can't keep avoiding him."

I slipped into the light blue waist high skinny jeans and looked over at her. "He probably didn't even realize that I was gone. He doesn't want to talk to me anyway."

I could tell right away Ino didn't agree with me. "You loud-mouthed knucklehead of a team mate reached out to me wondering of your whereabouts last evening once he caught word that you had left the hospital. Once I got you into bed I went out with him. Sasuke wants to speak with you."

I opened my mouth to protest but Ino put her hand up. "Forehead, as much as I am not a fan of him and what he's done, I think you need to hear him out. I also think that you need to express to him the feelings that you had told me last night. That is probably something that he needs to hear, weather he wants to hear it or not. Oh no no no. Wear the black tank top with that, not the white one." She mumbled as she threw a black tank top in my direction. "It looks so much better on you than the white does. The black makes your eyes stand out more. Those jeans look good on you. You can keep them if you want. No, you're keeping them, and I'm doing your makeup after you eat."

I sighed.

"No ifs and buts. You will be speaking to him even if I have to drag you there myself."

I know logically that if I delay this awaited any longer it will only add fuel to whatever fire that is currently burning. So I just proceeded to nod in order to shut her up. Ino gave me a contented sigh and she walked out of her bedroom to get the food. I felt my body start shaking. Yeah, I am way too chicken shit to face him right now. Or ever. I'm too scared to even talk to him.

What if Sai is right about everything?

What if Sasuke blames me for everything that has happened since he's come back into my life and into the village?

How exactly do I even approach this topic of conversation with him? I can't just dive right into it head first. I hate doing that. I can't just sit there and not say anything to him either, and wait for him to tear into me and then rage right back at him.

And then I remember I'm not a machine.

I'm only human.

* * *

Next chapter will be Sasuke's point of view!

Bunny.


	2. Lips Of An Angel

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything that has to do with the franchise. The only thing I do however own, is this plot.

Hi! It's me again! Wait, is this another update so soon? Meaning like, not another entire forever wait? What is this sorcery? I told myself that I wouldn't work on this until I gave Otherworldly an update even though this chapter basically was writing itself in my head. Then Otherworldly got an update and classes started up again. Le sigh. My apologies. *Grumbles about thesis and boy issues*

As a quick side note, this chapter takes place during the same time that Sakura's does. This is what was going on with Sasuke's end of the situation. I think it's important to see both sides of a situation before jumping to conclusions, yes? Understanding where both of them are is relatively important.

Dedicated to a certain someone, with all of my love.

* * *

" _I guess we never really moved on/It's really good to hear your voice saying my name/It sounds so sweet/Coming from the lips of an angel/Hearing those words it makes me weak/And I never wanna say goodbye_ " – "Lips Of An Angel" by Hinder

Sasuke POV

 _Knock._

 _Knock._

 _Knock._

"Wake the fuck up, dobe."

Silence.

 _Knock. Knock. Knock._

"Naruto."

I tapped my fingers on his apartment door in frustration as I heard a gurgle and a moan from the other side.

"Open the fucking door."

"Doyouhaveanyideawhattimeitis?" I heard the dobe groggily spit out from the other side as he approached and opened the door.

I pushed him aside and walked into his disaster of what he called an apartment. "I'm not going to find a nude Hyuga in your bedroom if I decide to go and sleep in there, will I?"

"She's home tonight," he started, rubbing his eyes. "It shouldn't matter anyway! She's my fucking girlfriend! Who the fuck do you think you are showing up here at 3 AM and telling me who I can and cannot have in my fucking bed and who I can and cannot fuck! Why the fuck are you sleeping here anyway, you have a place to live. You have a girlfriend. You can go and sleep in her bed. She can satisfy your needs way better than I can."

"I showed up at the hospital around midnight to talk to her and she wasn't there."

"Who, Sakura?" he yawned. "Ya know, she's a grown woman. She can walk herself home without you constantly by her side watching her like one of your hawks, Sasuke. She did train under Granny Tsunade ya know. She could kill just about anyone who even looks at her the wrong way."

"She never came home."

Naruto let out another yawn and squinted his eyes at me. "Why the fuck does it matter? She runs a hospital Sasuke. She has other responsibilities that she has to handle that don't revolve around you and what you expect and want from her on a day to day basis. She's not a toy that you can use and toss off to the side when you're done and bored with her."

"They told her to leave some hours earlier."

"Okay, and why did you decide to come here at this hour when you could have been looking for her and doing something about this?"

I walked over to his kitchen table and sat down, resting my head in my hands. "You're her best friend, Naruto."

"So is Ino, and you show up here."

"I don't want to talk to that fucking blabbering Yamanaka. Sakura's upset, and I know she would talk to you over anyone else. I think I know my own….I would like to think I know Sakura very well, Naruto."

I heard Naruto rustling around in his refrigerator. "I have Tomato juice which I'm going to assume is yours, water, milk, and some left over sake."

I grunted, knowing he was avoiding the subject.

"Tomato juice it is."

"Dobe," I began.

"So how long has she been at the hospital for this time?" he asked.

"Three days."

"What happened?"

"I told her that I wish she could understand that I didn't want to share my pains with a broken heart."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean, Sasuke? Where the fuck did that come from? Why the hell would you say that to Sakura after all she's done for you?" he screamed, something that I had been expecting.

"You know that I can't stay here forever."

"So you're being a selfish bastard, and trying to push her away because you're afraid of what distance is going to do to the two of you? Clearly you're the fucking idiot here, Sasuke. If you love someone, distance doesn't matter. If that person is worth it, distance shouldn't matter. What matters is the connection that the two of you have in your hearts. You know Sakura isn't going to cheat on you. You know Sakura isn't going to give up on you because you want to do this. From all the times I've been away from Hinata, do you think that has had any effect on us? No! It makes us stronger!"

"Hn."

"So teme, what's actually going on between you and Sakura?"

There was the question that I was looking for, because it was the question I had been asking myself ever since she walked out that door three days ago in tears. It was the question I was asking myself when I went and stood outside of that hospital waiting for her to get off of her shift, when I walked inside looking for her. It was the question I had been asking myself everyday when I went to wait for her outside of that damn hospital only for her to not come out.

"If I knew the answer to that, do you think I'd be here right now?"

"Don't answer my questions with another fucking question. What the fuck is going on, Sasuke. You either tell me now, or I will go to other measures to find either Sakura or Ino and find this shit out for myself."

"Do not involve that fucking Yamanaka."

"Then answer my question."

Now I was getting angry. "I. Don't. Fucking. Know." I said as I grinded my teeth together and slammed my fist into the table.

And that was the truth. I honestly couldn't tell him exactly what was on my mind when it came to that…annoying girl.

"Well, I'm waiting Sasuke. Because we both know that 'I don't fucking know' is not an answer. You do know, and you just don't want to admit it. Or you just don't want to hear yourself say it out loud. Pick your poison."

"She's annoying."

"How so?"

I glared at him, noticing the cocky smile that resided on his face. "What do you know, Naruto?"

"No answering my questions with more questions, teme. Now, what is Sakura-chan annoying this time?"

"She's not the same person she used to be."

"In what sense? She's still the same Sakura that I know." he said, tilting his head to the side in confusion.

"She's not the same girl I originally fell for when I first met her. She's not the same girl that she was when I left last time. She's changed since I've been back, since we've gotten closer again."

Naruto grew silent. So silent I could have sworn I heard the sound of crickets from the Land of Wind. The air grew heavy as I could feel him about to blow up on me as soon as those words came out of my mouth. I had no idea where to go from there or even what to think. Naruto being this silent was almost the most terrifying thing I have had to experience. But he was right, saying those words out loud almost felt like I had spoken an ancient curse that had long been forgotten over the years.

When I returned to the village from my journey this time, Sakura had seemed like a completely different person. Her green eyes, usually so bright and full of happiness, didn't hold that shimmer that I had grown used to anymore. She looked tired, depressed, and I could tell she had put on a façade as soon as she saw me to hide whatever was going on with her. She welcomed me home and then hurried off, claiming she couldn't stay because she had piles of work waiting for her on her desk that she had to finish up. Naruto and I had exchanged a glare as he shook his head in a 'don't ask' type of way.

She avoided me for days after that, and it took me tracking down that damn Yamanaka in order to find out what had been actually going on with her.

That damn ex boyfriend of hers.

How I wanted to hill the bastard once I found out.

When I had heard from Naruto and found out that Sakura was with someone, I was relieved. She was with someone. She wouldn't be lonely. She would have someone to distract her thoughts and make her smile in ways that I couldn't since I wasn't there. She would have someone to lean on, to talk to, to pour her heart out to who would listen to that girl ramble for hours.

And then the bastard had to go and fuck it all up.

And I had to pick up the pieces that she hadn't cleaned yet, which were very few and far between to find.

My heart yearned for the girl that I once knew. The girl who always had the smile on her face who cared a little too much for her friends. The girl who was more stubborn than Naruto and I put together, who put herself in dangers way more times than I would like to think about in order to protect to two of us. She was always trying to prove her worth to us, even though she didn't have to. Her perseverance to get better, to improve herself, to prove to herself that she could stand equally with us, that first drew me to her.

She had always wanted to be looked at as an equal.

I knew that.

Naruto knew that.

My heart had somehow bound itself to hers, even though she had put up so many walls and pushed me away from her. I was hers before I left the village that night, and I was hers when I finally returned. No one had been able to make a pull on my heart like she had. I knew I was an idiot all those years ago for not understanding how much I had meant to her, and I knew I was an idiot for not telling her how much she had meant to me.

But I thought she had understood that when I left her on that bench that fateful night.

I thought she understood that by me leaving her behind, I was protecting her from not only the dangers that lay ahead for me on that journey that I made the mistake of deciding to take, but from the danger that I knew I was going to turn into by taking it. She didn't deserve to be put through that. She didn't deserve to see what that bastard subjected me to throughout the years that I spent with him. I didn't want her to lose the innocence that made her who she was, who I wanted to remember her as so when I lost myself to the dark world I was entering, I would be able to pull myself back even in the slightest.

I care about her. She knows that. I know that. Why does it matter to anyone else about my feelings towards the girl?

All it took was me cornering her one night and making her talk to me. I knew that Sakura wasn't one for confrontation, and from what I had heard she had stopped opening up to just about everyone except for a select few people. She cried. She avoided the questions as much as she had been able to. She tried shutting me out even more by telling me that it was something that shouldn't have been any of my concern and for me not to worry about it. And then she told me.

She didn't tell me everything, which I know. But she told me enough.

I took her in my arms and told her that it was why she shouldn't prefer talking and spending time with anyone but me, and she laughed. She wiped away her tears and laughed.

It was the first time I had heard her laugh since I had been back.

She had gone from completely avoiding me, to curling up next to me every night. She said it was because of the nightmares. But to me, it didn't matter as long as she was by my side. I couldn't wrap my head around when change between us fully happened, but it didn't matter. She was finally mine, and I, hers. I had finally convinced her to get out of the hole of an apartment that she was living in as to get away from all of the shit memories that came with it.

We found a decent sized place of our own.

At the end of the day, she knew that I had other obligations and responsibilities when it came to the village and what lied outside of it. My leaving for periods of time was inevitable, something that she had grown to expect and accept because of my journey for redemption. Because of my Rinnegan, I was the only one suited for the types of missions regarding the instance with the moon and the aftermath of the war. I was the only one suited to be the outside protection that Konoha needed.

It was too dangerous for me to be here for long periods of time. Not only was I putting Konoha's lives at risk, I was putting Sakura's life at risk, and I will be damned if something ever happened to her again. I don't give a flying fuck about what happens to me, but I know that not even she would be able to handle the evil that lies outside of the village.

"You're playing a dangerous game, Sasuke," I heard Naruto say, pulling me out of my thoughts. "You are going to end up regretting doing this to her, and you know it. She's been hurt enough by you in the past, so why would you continue to hurt her again now?"

I tapped my fingers against the table, attempting to mask my irritability at the stupidity that I was trying to convince myself that was coming out of his mouth.

" She knew what she was getting into when she agreed."

"Did she? I didn't think that she was agreeing to your acting like a selfish prick because you think that everyone is like you. Not everyone is selfish Sasuke, and you need to accept that."

I growled. What the fuck was he going on about? Sakura wasn't like that at all. She was the exact opposite. She cared too much.

"At this point I'm convinced that she's waiting to see that change in you that I saw when I brought you home. Maybe she thinks it's a matter of time that you're going to snap out of that dark place that you still think you're in. I understand that you became a different person during that time, Sasuke. We all grew up and became different people, but that's what happens when you get older. You change. We are constantly changing. You are not that same person that you were, even though you think you are."

I sit there in silence, because I know he's right, and I don't want to give him that satisfaction of my admittance to fucking up yet again.

I could tell even in his tired state, Naruto was starting to get emotional. "With the way you're acting, I think Sakura does deserve someone else. Someone who hasn't done anything bad to her. Someone who has hurt her, or told her she wasn't good enough. Kami, you left her unconscious on a bench in the middle of the night all alone. Who knows what could have happened to her. What if she was violated? Or attacked?"

"I didn't leave her alone, you did."

"How the fuck did I leave her alone? Because I went looking for your sorry ass because she asked me to?"

I knew he would protect Sakura when I left. I knew she had her friends and family to lean on during what I assumed was going to be a time of depression and despair for her because of her unhealthy obsession with me back then, even though I had known that her obsession had died and she began to see me as more of a friend and teammate than a boy she could fan girl over like the rest of the female population in our class had done.

"How about you think about her feelings instead of yourself for one fucking minute. All I'm hearing is you thinking nothing about yourself and not that poor girl. You're fucked up, we get it. You're a basket case. You don't know how to properly deal with your emotions because of what that fucked up bastard put you through. We understand. But did you really forget how to consider what other people are thinking and feeling after all these years? Stop fucking wasting her time if you aren't going to love her back the way she deserves you to. At least give her that, after everything."

"Shut up dobe. My patience is wearing thin."

"You make no fucking sense. You're patience is wearing thin? What the fuck! You show up here in the middle of the night because you fucked up and your patience is wearing thin? Once again here you go with thinking about no one but yourself because you can't handle hearing the fucking truth!"

I know that she deserves more than my fucked up being. I know that she deserves someone who can love her unconditionally. Someone who can talk to her, and listen to her. She deserves someone who wasn't so damaged, and someone who would understand that Sakura was damaged too from everything that she had gone through.

But Sakura is damaged, and I don't know what to do.

I don't know how I can just wipe those painful memories out of her mind so she didn't flinch at the slightest touch, or jump at a shadow she wasn't sure of that was coming around the corner. I want to make it so she would be able to accept anyone affection again like she used to. I want her to be able to smile at the dumbest things again. What happened to her haunts me. No one deserves that. No one deserves to be put through that.

And from what she told me, she remembers every vivid and crisp detail, which is something she wishes she wasn't able to do.

But that didn't mean that I didn't love her.

I've never had feelings like this towards anyone before. I've looked at plenty of girls on my travels, and I have had plenty of girls try to throw themselves at me. I couldn't deny the way my heart felt when I'd hear the sound of her voice saying my name, how sweet it sounded coming from her lips. I couldn't deny how my body would get covered in goose bumps when she would brush up against me. How I would hope she would not hear my heart pounding a mile a minute when she would occasionally rest her head on me. I would just sit there and listen to the soft sounds of her breathing as she would drift off to sleep, enjoying the warmth of her body against my own.

This is not something that I want to tell the dobe.

This is something private between Sakura and myself.

"What makes you think I don't have feelings for her?" I asked him, trying not to show how annoyed I am in my voice.

 _"I just wish you could understand, I don't wish to share my pains with a broken heart. I love you for your flaws, your imperfections, the things that make you uniquely you. Unlike other people, you're human. You have the ability to truly be able to love."_ He said, almost mockingly. "You don't think I don't already fucking know? That's not fucking love, Sasuke. That's pity. Don't tell her you fucking love her when you don't mean it."

"And what do you expect me to do? Continue to get her hopes up for a future that can't fucking happen? She knows what will happen!"

"Am I supposed to spell it out for you, or can you do that yourself since you think you're so smart?"

I sneered. "You finally learned how to spell? How charming. Hinata must be so pleased that she's no longer dating the biggest idiot that's walked the planet."

"Don't you know how to act like a fucking man? Didn't you learn anything when we were younger about how to treat women? Or were you too concerned about yourself because you were just as big a selfish prick as a child as you are now," he yelled, attempting to cut me with his words. "Fuck Sasuke! You really must be fucking stupid! Buy her flowers, grab her ass when other men are looking at her, tell her that she's the most beautiful woman you've ever laid eyes on, kiss her when everyone is around just to make her blush! Just do fucking something! "

At the rate things are going, we're probably going to end up destroying another training field, if not the interior of his apartment.

I'm surprised the neighbors haven't woken up yet.

"I'm fucked up, Naruto!" I shouted back. "You don't need to keep reminding me of what a fucked up individual I am! I've killed people for my own benefit! I've pushed everyone out of my life because I'm a selfish prick in your own words that cares only about himself! But just because I'm the most fucked up individual that's walked the streets of this village does not mean that I have to treat Sakura like a piece of meat on a slab waiting to be devoured by some horny fuck. Are you telling me that I need to show the entire village how much I want to climb in bed with her? How badly I want to fuck her? Are you telling me that I need to assert my dominance over the most stubborn woman in the entire village? That's the last thing that she needs, is to be beaten down yet again."

Naruto's mouth dropped.

"Just because I'm a selfish prick, doesn't mean that I don't care about her. My intentions were never to hurt her. I wanted to protect her. The last thing that I ever wanted to do was hurt her as much as I have. She knows that. Life isn't the way I wish it was when it comes to being with her. I love her, but that doesn't mean I can be with her. I know how I feel. That should be enough for her, and for anyone else for that matter."

"Why?" he manages to get out.

"You know why."

"Does she really know? Or do you think she knows? All you do is jerk her around, Sasuke. She's smiling and holding your hand one day, and the next day I have Ino knocking at my door asking me what's going on because Sakura is nowhere to be found once again, or she hasn't left the hospital again for days on end because she's hurting."

"Why are you fighting her battles still, Naruto? I thought you've claimed she's her own woman now."

I could almost guarantee at this point that Sakura was in the clutches of that damn Yamanaka. That blonde was probably whispering some sort of shitty advice into her ear, and Sakura was soaking it in like she always had done. Nothing that came out of that fucking blondes mouth did Sakura any good. They were two completely different people, who came from two completely different lives and lifestyles and were brought up two completely different ways. Sakura being the more conservative and mindful of the two, keeping to herself and making sure she presented herself in a proper way. The blonde was too outgoing for her own good, always craving the attention of everyone around her. She thrived on it, while Sakura enjoyed the solitude. Why Sakura listens to a word that comes out of that girls mouth baffles me even to this day.

I could never understand the 'power of friendship' that happened between girls.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" he growled. "Sakura is my sister! She's my family! I can't just let my family get hurt ya know. It's not right."

"You've always enjoyed playing the part of her big brother, haven't you? Was it nice when I left, and you were able to hold her in your arms everyday while she sobbed and poured her feelings out to you? She told you everything, didn't she. Her dreams, her wishes, her goals," I sneered, the words tasting like venom coming out of my mouth. "Did you think that with me out of the picture that she would finally accept your love and go running into your arms and the two of you would live happily ever after? "

"What the actual fuck Sasuke. I'm sorry, but unlike you I'm not an expert on abandoning my friends in the middle of the night for some psycho without saying two words to them."

"Why the fuck can't she rely on me like she does everyone else?" I finally admitted out loud.

So many people have loved her; have fought for her. Have stayed by her side in her darkest of times.

"I hate to say it, but you lost that right when you abandoned her, Sasuke."

There was no one's opinion that I valued more than Naruto's. There was no one elses ideals and morals that I valued more than his. Naruto was my brother, the only other person I considered to be family. I knew he was right. I knew that everything that I could have had, I threw away.

"I did what I did to protect her."

"if the world was coming to an end tomorrow, who would you want to spend your final moments with?" he asked, softly.

"Sakura."

"Why?"

"Because there would be no one else that I would want to be with. I love her, Naruto."

Naruto smirked. "Finally he fucking admits it!"

"It's just…its not her Naruto, it's me. It's always been me. I can't put her through more pain than she's already gone through. No one deserves to go through what she has. All I want is to see her smile again, to see her be her carefree self that she once was. All I want is for her to be that same girl that I met all those years ago where her biggest worry was about pleasing a boy."

"What are you trying to say?"

I sighed. "I can't handle it. I can't handle her. I can't handle this. I don't know what to do and –"

 _CRACK!_

And my world went black.

-x-

 _Chirp._

 _Chirp._

 _Chirp._

I cracked open an eye to find myself on the dobes couch covered in a random sheet.

"How the hell…"

"You're a fucking asshole, Sasuke. I just want you to be fully aware of that." I heard Naruto say as I looked over to see him leaning against the doorway of his bedroom.

"What…"

"You deserved it, ya know."

"How long…."

"A few hours, give or take. You slept like a baby though. Maybe you need that more often; a good punch in the head."

I put my head in my hands as an attempt to stop the throbbing. "You're a fucking asshole, dobe."

"No teme, you are. You're the biggest one I know, ya know. I spoke to Ino after you fell asleep," he smirked as I scowled at him. "You will be having a conversation with Sakura today whether you like it or not."

"Ino found her?"

"Not that it's any of your concern, but Ino found her wandering the streets in somewhat of a daze last night. Took her home and Sakura poured her heart out to her. You two need to talk and get your shit together, and you either need to stop jerking her around or you need to move on."

I opened my mouth to retort but he put a finger up.

"You finally admitted you love her out loud to me last night. Now it's just time you stopped running from the truth when it comes to her. Sit down, have a talk. Apologize. Be the man you claim to be. Either you stop hurting her once and for all, or you get the fuck out of her life. She'll hurt again, but she'll move on."

Perhaps Naruto was right, maybe I was tired of running from the truth about my feelings towards her.

He's right, I need to man up.

I've already begun to miss the sweet sound of her voice, saying my name.

Coming from the lips of an angel.

* * *

Because men obviously can't have a emotional type of conversation like woman can. They just act like assholes and hit each other.

Sasuke is just emotionally challenged, which we all know.

My original intentions and where I wanted to go with this ended up changing as I was writing this, so I hope you all enjoyed where it ended up going.

The final part which is Sasuke and Sakura's meeting is up next! It's gonna be a doozy!

Constructive criticism is welcome, and reviews are always welcome.

Bunny.


End file.
